Device for leveling shoe soles



June 9, 1936. J. TWEEDIE DEVICE FOR LEVELING SHOE S OLES Filed April 10,1935 bade-N782.- w

HA5 flrromvers.

Patented June 9, 1936 PATENT OFFICE DEVICE FOR LEVELING SHOE SOLES John'Tweedie, Jefferson City, Mo., assignor of one-half to Charles Tweedie,Jefferson City,

Application April 10, 1935, Serial No. 15,524

6 Claims.

My invention relates to means for leveling the soles of shoes, that is,to means whereby the stitching and. lips of the channels are flatteneddown even with the adjacent surface of the sole and whereby the frontand heel portions of the sole are flattened and the intervening shankportion is given the proper convex curvature. Heretofore the commonpractice of leveling soles of McKay stitched shoes has been to pull thelast, insert an iron last in the shoe, apply a topform to the sole andthen squeeze or press the sole between said iron last and the top form.This common method of leveling has several disadvantages, namely, it wasexpensive because it required a full quota of iron lasts and top formscorresponding with the various styles,'widths and sizes of shoes andbecause there was much'delay in continually shifting such top forms andiron lasts which are quite heavy. Another disadvantage of the commonpractice is that the iron last cannot uniformly fit the shoe as well asthe last on which the shoe was lasted and the ill fitting of the ironlast shows in the work after leveling.

' Heretofore the common practice of leveling soles of Welt processedshoes has been to .mount the lasted upper with sole attached on the lastin a leveling machine commonly known as a Goodyear leveler, which has adevice which levels the bottom or sole with a pressure roll which rollsthe bottom smooth. This common method has several disadvantages, namely,the rolling process has a marked tendency to squash the toe box out ofshape, is a slower method and does not produce a clearly defined shankand ball line.

Heretofore the common practice of leveling soles of turn processed shoeshas been to rub the bottom or sole smooth after the turned shoe has beenrelasted. This common method has several disadvantages, namely, therubbing process, done either by hammer rub, stick rub, or bypowerpropelled rolls with flattened surfaces, has not producedconsistency smooth bottoms by reason of not reaching all of the surfaceat the same time, and has little or no effect on smoothing or levelingthe seam-ridge and lip on the inside of the shoe from inseamingthe upperto the sole.

The principal object of the present invention is to produce a device foruse in leveling shoes which device will dispense with iron lasts and topforms and enable the leveling to be done with the shoe on the last onwhich it was lasted and which is used in subsequent operations under theMcKay process above described, and which will overcome the disadvantagesunder the welt process above described, and which will overcome thedisadvantages of the turn process above described, and which will beadvantageous in leveling shoes under other processes of shoemaking. Theinvention consists in the device hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference numerals refer tolike parts wherever they occur,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my device with the metal layer shown in dottedlines,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 22 I in 'Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the shank portion on the line 33 inFig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a view of the preferred form of metal layer,

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the extra metal toe section,

Y Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating a modification,

Fig. 7 is a view of the metal layer adjacent shank portion of themodification illustrated in Fig. 6,

Fig. 8 is a cross-section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

My device comprises a layer l of metal between two or more layers 2, .3of leather or fabric sewed together along their margins to 'form a thincasing. To the upper surface of the casing is, cemented a layer 4 ofhard leather or other suitable material with a smooth, wear-resistantouter surface. The shape of the leather layers and of the metal layer issimilar to the shape of a shoe sole but such layers are made wide enoughand long enough for the device to be used with soles of various widthsand lengths. V

The metal layer of my device is preferably made up of a single flatmetal plate M for the heel portion, a single fiat metal plate 5 for theforepart and a series of transversely arranged sections 6 for the shankportion, the general outline of the metal layer as a whole being similarto the outline of a sole. As there is considerable pleating of the upperleather at the toe of the shoe, it is preferable to insert an extrasection or thickness I of metal at the toe portion. The front section ofthe metal layer is flat and the heel section is substantially fiat andhigher than the front section but the shank sections are preferably madewith their sides to curve upwardly, under pressure. The heel section isoffset upwardly from the front section and the intermediate shanksection slopes upwardly, all after the manner of the sole of a finishedshoe.

'2 c y surface curves Continuously from side to side,

The manner of using the device is as follows.

7 My device is mounted on a stiffly'resilient rubber block or cushionofthe kind used in laying soles with the hard leather surface of mydevice uppermost. After the sole is stitched to the upper, the last,upon which the shoe was originally lasted (or one like it) is in theshoe and the shoe is then laid sole downward on my device. Pressure isthen applied in any suitable way to press the sole against my device. Asthe workis thickest along the stitching and channel lips, the pressurewill be greatest there as the front and heel portions of the metal,which are stiflly resilient,

as illustrated in Fig. 3.

act, to a certain extent, after the manner ofa solid block and it isdesirable tomake the front and heel portions of thej'work flat As forthe V shank portion, the narrow strips of metal are 7 more resilient soas to be able to conform to the. shape of the shank of the sole'bothtransversely and longitudinally. In actual practice, I have .hadvery'satisfactory results with blue steelspring metal of a thickness ofe of an inch made in sections of the shapeindicated'in the drawing Thedevice hereinbefore described is particularly adapted to'thevtype ofshank wherein the When it is desiredIto produce a shank'with an anglealong the middle portion thereof, I prefer to divide the metal layerlengthwise along the middle of the shank portion} In such case, theshank portion may be: 7 made with a single plate 9 on one side'of themedial line and a single, plate H] on the opposite side of the medialline of shank, instead of using a multiplicity of narrow stripsarrangedtransversely. In such case, the front ends of the shank piecesare'substantially straight lines that exs-tend obliquely forwardand'outward asshown in V rrj'Figr'l. 1 I

What I claim is:

'1. 'Ashoe leveling device comprising an upper 7 layer and a lower layerof flexible material secured together to form a sole shaped casing, and

'asole shaped layer of separate stiflly resilient metal plates securedinsaid casing, said metal layer comprising one stiffiyresilient plate ofthe generalshape of the forepart of the sole, a second 'stifilyresilient plate of the general shape of the heelportion and a-pluralityof separate resilient plates spaced apart throughout the shank'por tion.7

'2. A shoeleveling device comprising an upper layer and a lower layerof, flexible material se- V cured together to form a sole shaped casing,a sole shaped layer of separate metal platessecured in said casing, anda layer of hard leather or other suitable material secured flatwise tothe 5 s top of said casing said metal layercomprising one stifilyresilient plate of the general shape of the forepart of the sole, asecond stiflly resilient plate of the general shape of the heel portionand a plurality of separate resilient plates spaced 10; 7

apart throughout the shank portion.

3.- A shoe' leveling device comprising an upper layer and a lower layerof flexible material se5 cured together to form a sole shaped casing,and

a sole shaped layer of separatemetal plates se- 15 cured in said casing,the forepart of said metal layercomprising a stifily resilient plate ofthe general shape thereof, the heel portion 101, said 'm'etal layercomprising a stifilyresilient plate of r the general shape of said heelportion and the 20 shank portion of said metal layer comprising-aplurality ofrelatively narrow resilient plates that extend fromside'edge to side edge of said metal layer. V"

4. A shoe leveling device comprising an upper 2 layer and a lower layerof flexible material secured together to form a sole shaped casing, and

a sole shaped layer of metal secured in said cas ing, the shankportionofsaid metal layer'comprising a plurality of relatively narrow separate Q7 comprising 'twoseparate plates on opposite sides 4o 7 of .saidshank'portion. V I

6. Ashoe leveling device comprising an upper layer and alower layer offlexible. material se cured together to'form a sole shaped casing, a

sole shaped layer of separate met-a1 parts secured r in said Icasing,and a layer of hard leather or other suitable material secured flatwiseon said 1 upper layer, the shank portion of said metal layer beingseparate from the front and heel portions and comprising two separateplates onopposite sides of said shank portion.

JOHN

